Performance, sound, cabaret, interactive and
electronic arts, video, photography, and installation will feature in
a festival that celebrates the unlikely friendship between a small
country town and a contemporary arts community.

When the Kandos Cement works, a major employer and
backbone of the town, closed in 2012 the future of the town was
uncertain. A group of artists rose to the challenge of resurrecting a
rural community after the closure of a major industry, and Cementa
was born. The arts organisation was founded to cultivate an art
culture and raise the profile of the town to improve the visitor
economy, attract new residents and contribute to rural regeneration.

Since the end of 2017 artists have been visiting Kandos on residency, getting to know the town, connecting with the people and the landscape and making work in response. A biennial festival of contemporary art has also been a feature of the group’s work.

The festival will again be held this year over 4 days and nights, from 10am Thursday, 21 November to 4pm Sunday, 24 November in venues and locations across Kandos and surrounds. Taking its regional situation as its focus, Cementa celebrates the rich diversity of voices that can be heard within the contemporary arts community.

The heart of Cementa19 is the Artists program with more than 40 artists making, exhibiting and performing work that address the identity, history and current social, environmental and economic context of the town and its region. This year there will be meteors, fireworks, melting sculptures, burning mountains, historical mobiles, industrial ice cream, musical vehicles, a thundering fort, and lots more.

In
addition to the 40 artworks exhibited across the town, the festival
program will feature both free and ticketed events including
performances, exhibitions, workshops, music and several initiatives
and larger projects engaging directly with regional communities,
artists and culture.

The
festival will culminate with a dinner prepared from locally foraged
ingredients where the Kandos School of Cultural
Adaptation will unfold their two-year journey of discovery: An
Artist, a Farmer, and a Scientist Walk into a Bar. This project
saw nine artists engaging with farmers, scientists, Aboriginal
custodians, and other regional stakeholders who are changing the
culture of agriculture, and adapting farming practices and land
management in response to drought, climate change, and land
degradation.

For more information and
the full program visit the website: https://cementa.com.au/